Half and Half
by Ukrainian Snowstorm
Summary: What Tamriel needed, and what Skyrim needed, was one strong dragonborn, but life never works out that way, instead, they get two weak ones, fifteen-year-old girls, Reachwoman and Skaal, runaways from their own home. Can they play half and half, and can they tolerate each other for long enough to save the world?
1. Prologue: The Fugitives

**AN: Well, this is my first fanfic I'm uploading, it'll probably get like no views anyway, so I'm just going for it. This is bulk uploaded with chapter 1, so see the end of chapter 1 for any notes.**

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Prologue: The Fugitives

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Whoever said Markarth was the safest city in the Reach was a liar, and needed to be stopped immediately, before any more innocent girls walked into it believing it was the truth. Maybe Marina was just naïve, and believed the first thing she heard, but when someone said something, it should at least be close to the truth.

Last time Marina checked, a murder out in public did not constitute as safe, especially not in the Empire's standards. Not even where Marina came from were murders outside safe. Sighing, Marina straightened her dirty rucksack, and walked ahead, forcing herself to shake the shock away. She'd seen dead bodies countless times before, Forsworn camps certainly weren't great for raising children that way, and it probably didn't shake Marina up as much as it should have, so she smiled at the passing strangers, ducked down and dug through the poor Imperial girl for any bit of gold, and any other valuables she might have, before doing the same with her now-dead attacker, at least the guards were efficient.

Smiling, Marina received a note from a Breton, she wasn't sure if he was a Forsworn or from High Rock, but it was all the same. The note, which he claimed that she dropped, instructed her to go to the Shrine of Talos, something Marina was more than gladly going to avoid doing. She'd just escaped the Forsworn, no way in hell was she going to investigate a Forsworn murder, or do anything involving the Forsworn for that matter, she was just going to stay a few months, before making the money to cross the border to Cyrodiil, and make a living there, away from the influence of her family. Or at least, that was the plan...

Marina ended up leaving a few days later, because between Forsworns, houses with daedras, and cannibals, Marina decided that Markarth wasn't the dream, and she might as well leave to Cyrodiil now.

The cold air hit Hayame's face as the Northern Maiden sailed across the sea, there was never a more freeing feeling in Hayame's life than this moment, when she could finally leave the dull island of Solstheim, and find adventure in the great big world. The Skaals might try to chain her down, but at heart, she was an adventurer, and there was no where she'd rather be than on the open road.

Hayame relished in the feeling of the cold air slicing her face, the water dancing all around her as the boat docked in Windhelm. Hayame paid the captain, and jumped off the ship. This is it, her life finally begins. The place was freezing cold, and these Telvanni robes didn't help.

Inside Windhelm was anything but the dream, between everyone talking of a goddamn civil war, and there was so much race violence, but Hayame still made it home. She was going to get rich, and then turn tails and move to Imperial City, because she deserved something in life, and she couldn't stand another second of this petty civil war talks.

Hayame found that being from Raven Rock doesn't get her many friends in the dump of Windhelm, so she mostly stayed with the dark elves, who recognized her Telvanni robes as something, and actually treated her half-decently.

Marina took a deep breathe, this was terrifying, her hands were shaking, and it wasn't the cold. Marina had grown up with this cold, wearing little but the petty protection the Forsworn outfit has offered.

Shakily, she grabbed her horse's reign again, readying herself to gallop across the borders into Cyrodiil, to freedom.

Steeling her resolve, Marina reminded herself the reason she was here, because if she was back home, she'd be just another disposable pawn in reclaiming the Reach, something she wasn't even interested in.

Marina jumped on her horse, and galloped deeper into the woods, praying that she won't get lost, not noticing that she walked straight into a fight until it was far too late, and Marina jumped off her horse, allowing it to bolt, before looking around, calmly trying to analyze the situation. All around there were man in red fighting man in blue, and Marina could only guess this was the fabled civil war that took a back-burner in Markarth.

Among those man, something stood out, a girl wearing a large, over-sized coat, and a guy in rags, arguing over a horse, which seemed just plain terrified. Then there was how everyone in blue seems to be protecting a man in some damn good clothing, while the reds seems to be focused on just knocking everyone out.

This was not an ideal situation to cross the border in, Marina knew, but she was going to try regardless, because they're going to have to drag her back by the hair. So Marina crouched, sneaking through the battle, hoping to avoid just about everyone who was there, but someone noticed her, and knocked her on the back of her head, Marina cursed her luck, and crumpled to the dirt, without so much a cry of pain, and watched as the fighting all around her blur to nothingness, and the noise fade to black.


	2. Chapter 1: Mercy

Mercy

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Marina woke up to a throbbing pain at the back of her head, something that was only compounded by the rocking of cart, jousting to every lump on the road, and Marina might not have noticed it while she traveled, but sitting in a cart, you can really appreciate how little thought the entire province put into maintaining the roads.

"Hey you." A voice called at Marina, and Marina turned to look at him, he was a Nord man, with flowing blonde hair that settled on his shoulders, almost handsome, really, but Marina refused to think of love. "You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right?" Marina tried to reply, but her throat was drier than the ash on Red Mountain, so she managed a simple nod. "Walked right into that imperial ambush, same as us, and those two horse thieves."

Marina only then noticed the other passengers on the carriage, all of them Nord. The worst off seemed to be the man with brown hair, his hair was windswept and messy, he seemed to be pretty shaken by the battle, and wore only ragged clothing, not like Marina was in a position to judge that.

Then there was an angry looking woman with eyes the color of clear lakes, and hair the color of ebony, wearing a thick coat, with sharp, defined features. She would have been beautiful, had it not been for her scowl.

Sitting opposite to Marina was a scary looking man, wearing what must have been expensive clothing. He had a dark blonde hair that framed his face, and made him look about ten times as intimidating, and his eyes certainly didn't help. So full of resolve, of purpose, people like that scared Marina. The only consolidation was he was gagged, so she couldn't hear the scary things that he would say.

"Damn you Stormcloaks." Marina refocused herself as the horse thief cursed. "Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse-"

"My horse," The black-haired woman cut off, her voice stuck like an ice spike.

"Damn you too! It was a horse you stole!" The horse thief said to the woman. "If it wasn't for you, and these damn Stormcloaks, I could've been halfway to Hammerfell." The thief than turned to address Marina. "You there... You and me, we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants." Marina wasn't sure whether to believe him, because she was pretty certain that Forsworns were just as acceptable a target.

"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief," The Stormcloak said.

"Yeah, get over it, none of us likes this situation, but it's what we have to live with. I want to go to mainland Morrowind, but guess what's not happening?" The black haired said, her voice the same icy tone it was before.

"Quiet back there!" The carriage driver shouted, and Marina sighed, while the Stormcloak and the black-haired shared a look, and rolled their eyes.

"And what's wrong with him, huh?" The horse thief nodded to the gagged man, and Marina did admit, she wondered what was wrong with him too. If she recall correctly, she was certain that she saw the Stormcloaks guarding him during the ambush.

"Watch your tongue, you're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true high king." Marina didn't know her civil war as well as she should, but she did not expect the black-haired next to her to whisper if she understood what he meant. Marina just gave a shrug to that.

"Ulfric? The jarl of Windhelm?" The horse thief began to panic, and Marina thought she could hear him hyperventilate. "You're the leader of the rebellion. But if they've captured you..." Marina didn't need the horse thief to finish, she knew well enough what it meant. "Oh gods, where are they taking us?" But maybe the horse thief was even naiver than Marina when she believed that Markarth was the safest city in Skyrim.

"I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits."

"Maybe this is my punishment for running away," Marina mused to herself, perhaps louder than she intended, as she caught the whole carriage's attention.

"They punish people for running away with death?" The girl next to Marina asked, suddenly her entire icy edge lost, and Skyrim just got about ten degrees warmer. "By the All-Maker, have I made a mistake."

"No, this can't be happening, this can't be happening." The horse thief muttered over and over again, as if he said it enough, it'll become true, Marina was long past that point.

"Hey, what village are you from?" The Stormcloak asked to the three, who was currently spiraling down the panic chamber to insanity.

"Why do you care?" The horse thief responded before neither Marina nor the black haired could so much as open their mouths.

"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home." Marina thought it was kind of bittersweet, but still she cast herself back to the Forsworn camp. It might be dull, but at least she wasn't being executed.

"Rorikstead... I'm from Rorikstead."

"I'm from..." The black haired paused for a second. "Solstheim." She said after some thought. "Tel Mithryn to be exact."

"And you?" The Stormcloak nodded at Marina. "I know you're not Nord, but-"

"Yeah, I understand." Marina cut off. "I'm from the Reach, kinda middle of nowhere. My family lived in the wilderness for generations, living off the land and whatnot. It's not much, but it's a life I'll miss."

"Yeah, we'll all miss our old lives." The girl next to Marina seemed to soften up for the first time.

"General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!" Their conversation was interrupted by a shouting imperial soldier as the group pulled into a town.

"Good. Let's get this over with." A staunch-looking man said. He looked so cut and dry that Marina swore she'd eaten stale bread with more flavor than him. His hair was white, and slicked back, his face was a typical sharp imperial face, wizen with age, and he wore exquisite clothing that should really be worn by someone half his age, and with much more interesting about them.

"Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Divines, please help me." The horse thief began praying.

"Look at him, General Tullius." The Stormcloak began a long conversation that Marina wasn't quite following, the first half involved rants about the elves, and the second half involved reminiscence. The only thing useful thing Marina gathered was that the town they were in was called Helgen. "Funny, when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel safe."

"And when I was a girl, I thought I'd find adventure in the big wide world, not death," The black-haired said, almost in annoyance at the Stormcloak's reminiscent rambling.

Everyone fell silent following the black-haired's remark, presumably because it struck too close to home. Marina knew too that when she left her camp, she never thought that she'd have a one-way paved road to death. In the distance, Marina heard whispers, childrens asking their parents of what's going on, men and women gossiping over the Imperials, people heckling over Stormcloaks, Imperials and elves alike, while Marina felt a sense of shame wash over her, as she was paraded through the town like some damn piece of trophy. She promised she was over that life when she left the Forsworn camp.

Marina though was cut off her thoughts as the carriage shook to a sudden stop, and an imperial captain clad in heavy armor called for the prisoners.

"Why are we stopping?" The horse thief asked in shock.

"Why do you think?" The black-haired seemed to turn back into her icy self, and Marina was scared that the black-haired might doom all of Tamriel with her hot-and-cold attitude, because warming and cooling something that much must lead to bad effects, right? It wasn't like Marina was an alchemist.

"End of the line." The Stormcloak said, before standing up on the carriage. "Let's go. Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us." He threw a twisted smile, and Marina gave an equally pained smile as she stood, while next to her, the black-haired gave an flourished eyeroll.

"No! Wait! We're not rebels!" The thief began screaming, clearly, he finally reached the bottom of the panic chamber, and was currently opening the gates to insanity.

"Honey, for screaming and begging to work, you must at least not be ugly." Marina just knew the black haired was going to somehow ruin it for everyone by insulting one of the guards, but she said nothing.

"Face your death with some courage, thief," The Stormcloak said, his voice a mix of pity and disgust.

"You've got to tell them! We weren't with you! This is a mistake." The thief ignored everything that was just said, and continued panicking.

"Step towards the block when we call your name. One at a time," The captain said.

"Empires love their damn lists," The Stormcloak said, earning a chuckle from the black-haired, and Marina.

"Ulfric Stormcloak. Jarl of Windhelm," A soldier called, he was of muscular build, and in his hand, he held a list, presumably for all the prisoners.

"It's has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric," The Stormcloak said, his voice strangely sober and serious.

"Yeah, it's been real," The black-haired added, "even if really, it haven't, and I have only lived in Windhelm for a few months."

"At least you knew him for longer than a carriage ride," Marina said, for once laughing slightly.

"Not really, as a member of House Telvanni, I try to avoid the Nord nobility type." The black-haired shrugged.

"Ralof of Riverwood." The soldier interrupted before the conversation could have been carried on, and the Stormcloak stepped up. "Lokir of Rorikstead."

"No, I'm not a rebel. You can't do this!" The thief darted off, and Marina decided, the last of his sanity was finally gone, and maybe one day, he'll find it in Sovngarde.

"Halt!" The captain shouted, but the thief gave no response.

"You're not going to kill me!" The thief shouted, as if drunk, but then, shock was the most powerful mead.

"Archers!" The captain commanded, and instantly, at least five arrows pierced the thief at once, shooting him dead. Seeing the way he fell, Marina guess he didn't feel pain. "Anyone else feel like running?" The captain surveyed the rest of the group with eyes of disdain, and Marina almost shrunk under the harsh glare.

"Wait. You two." The soldier drew attention away from the now dead thief, and to Marina, and the black-haired next to her. "Step forward, who are you?"

"Me?" The black-haired pointed to herself. "I'm Hayame."

"Well, you've picked a bad time to come home to Skyrim, kinsman."

"Actually, I'm from the cold mountains of Solstheim," Hayame corrected, with a smile, and Marina assumed that was what the coat was about. "But I understand." She seemed like a changed person in light of the Imperial.

"And you?" The soldier nodded to Marina.

"I'm Marina." She didn't feel like elaborating further.

"You from Daggerfall Breton? Fleeing from some court intrigue?"

"I wish," Marina almost laughed at the thought, "but no, I'm from the Reach, actually. Fleeing from a certain death by my entire family's crazy antics, turns out, one certain death leads to another."

"What should we do captain?" The soldier turned to the captain for guidance. "They aren't on the list."

"Forget the list," The captain said, almost growled, and Marina cursed the horse thief, who most certainly put her in this foul mood. "They go to the block." Marina heard Hayame emit a low growl.

"So acting cute doesn't work." Marina heard Hayame mutter to herself.

"By your orders captain." The soldier turned back to Marina and Hayame. "Follow the captain, prisoners."

"Rude."

As Marina and Hayame took their places, General Tullius made an elaborate speech about Ulfric, which Marina just tried to listen to, hoping she would get some knowledge from this.

"And now, we see the wild bullshit flying around." Hayame whispered to Marina, causing the Breton to chuckle, because she guess to an extent, it was the truth.

Before the speech could fully close, a roar was heard from the distance, and Marina rolled her eyes at everyone's panic, growing up in the wilderness of Skyrim, she's learnt that any number of beasts could have made that noise, from trolls to saber cats to other, more ungodly creatures.

"What was that?" The imperial list-reader asked.

"It's nothing. Carry on," Tullius said, and Marina was glad to see that at least someone in the entire town had common sense.

"Yes, General Tullius." The captain said, with a nod, before turning to a priestess. "Give them their last rites."

Marina zoned out the entire speech the priestess gave, it wasn't anything she cared for, or particularly believed in firmly enough to justify listening. Hayame seemed just as disenchanted, almost as if seeing the whole thing as a waste of time.

"For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with." The Stormcloak at the block said, seemingly just as annoyed as Marina and Hayame.

"As you wish," The priestess said, looking almost hurt.

"Come on, I haven't got all morning." The Stormcloak taunted, what, no matter the standpoint, was a bad thing to do. "My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?"

"I wish," Hayame said with a snort.

"Same," Marina said in agreement, watching as the headsman pulled the ax up, and before Marina had the chance to look away, the ax was brought down, severing the Stormcloak's head from his body. His head fell into a basket with a dull thud, and let out a low gasp.

The rest of the crowd too was riling with emotions, shouting curses, words of support, and some were just gasping, and speechless. Hayame though, seemed far too emotionally stunted, just staring without so much of a word.

"As fearless in death as he was in life," Ralof commented, and Marina hoped that she would be as fearless when it was her turn, not crying the tears that were so desperate to spill.

"Next the Breton." The captain shouted and Marina let out another gasp, she was steeling herself for this moment, but now that it was happening, she wasn't ready.

Before Marina could move though, another roar shook the town, and Marina prayed that at the very least, a saber cat would come ravaging through the town, at least it would provide a bit of humor before her untimely death.

"There it is again." The Imperial list-reader said, turning to his captain, desperate for orders. "Did you hear that?"

"I said next prisoner!" The captain barked, clearly, someone has shoved a stick up her ass recently.

"To the block, prisoner. Nice and easy." At the very least, the list-reader seemed to have some heart, talking to Marina in a rather gentle voice.

Marina threw her company a smile, twisted by her almost-tears. Her companions nodded at her.

"Goodbye." Hayame whispered. "It's been an honor to sit next to you on that carriage."

"You too," Marina said with a nod, before turning to the two Stormcloaks on her cart. Ralof gave her a reassuring nod, and Marina gave another smile. Ulfric stayed quiet, but Marina knew she couldn't expect anything else.

Marina, after giving the group one last reassuring nod, walked to the block, shaking slightly, and allowing the people to whisper about her. She saw the previous body being shoved aside, and she saw the head in the basket, soon to be joined by her own. She was scared, no, terrified at the prospect of dying before life began, but now, standing in front of the execution block, it had a kind of surrealness only present in dreams. Holding back most her tears, allowing a few drops to fall, she placed her head on the block. She was a coward, tried and true, and in her last moments before she reached death, she can only hope that the tears wouldn't spill any further.

Another roar shook the town, and Marina, despite her predicament, almost growled, if a beast wanted to attack, they should just attack now, before she died, why must it taunt her like this?

"What in Oblivion is that?" Marina heard someone shout, and Marina prayed that it was finally the wild beast that has shown up.

"Sentries! What do you see?" Marina tried to pinpoint the exact beast type it would be, but the roar baffled even her, she'd never heard a beast that sounds quite like that.

"It's in the clouds!" Marina certainly didn't know anything in the air that roared, so she was only left further confused.

"Dragon!" Marina was prepared for everything but that. She watched as people began to panic from her block, watching as everyone ran, and a shower of rocks hit the ground. She think that it'd be safer to stay still in cases like this.

Marina heard the headsman let out a groan, and despite the situation, she almost cheered, no more fear of her head sharing a basket with another man! But then, she felt guilty, someone was possibly dead, and her first reaction was to cheer? Man her parents did not raise an emotionally stable person.

"Don't just stand there! Kill that thing! Guards, get the townspeople to safety!"

I'm a townsperson too, Marina thought to herself, groaning, and watching as more people ran.

"Hey, Forsworn. Get up!" Marina groaned again as someone helped her up, she was just so sick of it.

"Forsworn?" Marina turned to the person, ready to confront him with whatever was necessary, because even with her hands tied, she wasn't going to take it.

"Yes, you're from the Reach, you're a Breton, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out." Marina blinked, right it was Ralof, the Stormcloak that has heard every word she said the past hour. "But there isn't time for that. The gods won't give us another chance."

"Right, of course." Marina nodded, still trying to wrap her head around this whole situation.

"This way, come on!" Marina heard Ralof shout as he darted through the crowds to a nearby tower.

"I'm following!" Marina shouted a conformation, before shoving against the townsfolks.

All around, there was cries of despair, people's last words, and crying, not to mention the fact that everything was on fire. Marina didn't have time to dwell on the romantic tragedy of the atmosphere that she loved so much, however, as the dragon will most likely kill her if she didn't hurry. So Marina hurried to the tower, shakily leaning against a wall, the cool stonework a welcome contrast to the blazes outside.

Marina closed her eyes, counted to ten, and opened it again, making sure that this wasn't all some messed up dream or hallucination, and in front of her was still the same tower, and Ralof, Ulfric, and some other Stormcloak soldiers. They seemed to be discussing some matter about the dragons, but Marina wasn't listening, she was too busy figuring out what to do.

"Let's go!" Ralof shouted at Marina, causing the girl to jump slightly. "With me, up the tower!"

"Ok," Marina said, with a nod, before shakily ascending the stairs, with Ralof leading slightly ahead, and another Stormcloak soldier.

The Stormcloak soldier said something that Marina couldn't quite catch, and a strange, foreign sound ran through the air, breaking the side of the tower, and crushing the Stormcloak soldier. It was bloody, and nasty, but Marina was used to this kind of thing, growing up in a Forsworn camp.

"Fire... Inferno... Sun..." Marina whispered to herself, somehow, her brain was able to comprehend the words that the dragon were saying, but she had no chance to dwell on it, as Ralof urged her to jump off the tower.

"You sure this is safe?" Marina asked, because she didn't survive so long just to die like that.

"Trust me!" Ralof said. "We'll follow when we can."

"Ok." Marina closed her eyes, and jumped, landing in a large, open room filled with flames. Marina looked around, trying to orient herself, and find the way out, when she found Hayame by a counter, grabbing as much mead as possible.

"What?" Hayame asked once she caught Marina's stare. "It's not like anyone else is using it, plus, it's possibly the only meads with juniper berries left in the world."

"Alright, but you can't defend yourself with your hands full."

"Says the person who is still in binds." Marina rolled her eyes.

"I don't have a choice in that."

"Yes you do. You just stand next to the fire and-"

"I'm not suicidal," Marina cut off.

"Fine." Hayame rolled her eyes, and kicked some half-burnt rucksack to her feet, placing all the mead in it, before tossing it over one shoulder. "Let's go together?"

"Sure." Marina shrugged, not like she had a better plan.

The two walked out of the burning inn, only to be greeted with even more fire, and screaming, the smell of smoke, and burning flesh floating through the air. Marina didn't mind it much, there was a certain romantic tragedy to it that she always loved.

"Still alive, prisoners?" Marina was jousted out of her thoughts at the voice of a certain Imperial list-reader, and she felt Hayame roll her eyes. "Keep close to me if you want to stay that way." Marina and Hayame shared a look, a collective 'what-is-there-left-to-lose' shrug, and nodded. "Gunnar, take care of the boy." The list-reader turned to another imperial soldier, and Marina proceeded to zone out their conversation, she wanted to focus on the mood, really capture it, maybe one day, she'll chronical it down, when she find the words that the Forsworns hated so much.

Marina felt Hayame press her against the wall, and the list-reader shouting something about sticking to the wall. Marina blinked, disorientated for a second, but quickly followed behind Hayame and the Imperial before she could lose them.

All the while, the big, black dragon kept shouting in strange tongues, and consuming people, setting to fire more and more things with each passing second. Marina heard the Imperial yell something, and the General yell something back, and she saw Ralof out of the corner of her eyes, blocking the way into the damn keep.

"We're escaping Hadvar," Ralof said, calm and calculating, "you're not stopping us this time."

"Fine." Hadvar met Ralof's voice with an equally cold and stony one, leaving Marina to think the two had more bad blood than just soldiers on opposing sides. "I hope that takes you all to Sovngarde."

"You!" Ralof shouted at Marina and Hayame, and the two looked at each other in surprise. "Come on, into the keep!"

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 **AN: How is it? Tell me if it'll flop like a fish out of the water, and I'll delete it if it will, or tell me if it's good/decent, and I should continue. This was originally going to be longer, but I didn't expect this to be so long already, I don't know if this is actually long though... I've never posted a fanfiction before, so tell me how long you want the chapters to be, and also, I wanted you guys to decide, should they go with Ralof, Hadvar, or one of each?**


	3. Chapter 2: Escape From Hel(l)gen

**AN: I don't like this chapter much, but I can't be bothered to change it so here it is. Also, I'll be responding to guest reviews:**

 **Catweed: Thank you for reading ^^**

 **Yeah, Hayame's personality would be pretty annoying, I'll admit, but the point of this story is for them to grow as characters, and to be a little less annoying by the end of it.**

 **I guess Marina wouldn't know too much about Markarth history, besides the Forsworn part of it. Yeah, I don't think she'd have much against the Stormcloaks, actually, I think she might be more Stormcloak-y than Hayame.**

 **Thanks everyone for the reviews.**

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Hayame didn't like dragons, and didn't believe in legends, so she should rightfully be the first one the dragon killed, but somehow, she survived long enough to end up in front of keep, with two people arguing over her and Marina, the weird girl who was almost executed before the dragon attacked.

"Umm..." Hayame could hear Marina hesitating, almost debating her options, not like Hayame thought there was much to debate, for her, it's a matter of 'I live in Windhelm, and if I want it to stay that way, I'm going with Ralof'.

"I say we go with the Stormcloak." Hayame said, watching as the girl struggled through her decision, _still_.

"But-" The girl begun, but cut herself off, after a moment's hesitation. "Well, I suppose you do know best."

"Yeah." Hayame was willing to lie and bluff a little (a lot) to get what she wanted, even when she actually know about as much as a box of bricks (especially with the civil war).

"Through here. Let's go!" Ralof shouted at the two girls as they looked at him, and Marina shrugged, and walked in, while Hayame trailed more carefully behind, she didn't trust that Hadvar guy to not stab her in the back, but instead of getting the Hadvar guy stabbing her in the back, Hayame heard something disturbing coming from the big, black dragon.

" _Hin sil fen nahkip bahloki._ " For some reason, Hayame figured that it meant 'your soul will feed my hunger', even if she had no experience in ancient dragon languages.

Once inside the keep, the trio encountered a dead Stormcloaks, which Ralof seemed to know, but then, didn't all Stormcloaks know each other?

"We'll meet again in Sovngarde, brother."

"I hope you find Sovngarde," Marina said, with a little nod to hold proper respect.

"Uh, have fun in Sovngarde?" Hayame said, she was completely inexperienced in these kind of things, and it didn't help that she held a completely different set of beliefs.

There was a moment of silence, before Hayame ducked down to search his body for anything of value.

"Are you for real?" Marina asked, and Hayame could only guess that the idiot thought of it as rude or something. Well it might be, but they were in this game to survive, not to throw tea parties with corpses.

"What? He won't need it anymore," Hayame pointed out, her hands instinctively snaking to his coin purse.

"I was going to say that." Ralof nodded at Hayame in approval, before turning to Marina. "I'll get those binds off you."

"At last."

"Here, take this." Hayame tossed the Stormcloak's armor at Marina. "You're going to need something more than rags to survive."

"And you?" Marina took the armor in her hands, and eyed Hayame, probably thinking of her lack of armor.

"It's fine. This coat is surprisingly strong." Hayame shrugged. "Also, take this." Hayame tossed a iron sword, it danced in the air, and was pretty dangerous, but Marina caught it, so no harm was done. "Who knows what fiends we're going to find here."

"Right." Hayame turned away and to Ralof, where he was examining two doors.

"Found anything?" Before he could answer, an Imperial soldier and captain opened the door, and Hayame cursed, turning to Marina.

"What?" Her brown eyes were so wide and innocent Hayame couldn't stand it, and the armor didn't fit her at all. Stormcloak blue was not meant for her brown hair and small frames.

"We're going to kill some fiends." Without another word, Hayame charged up some novice level flame spells, she was capable of something much more spectacular on her better days, but this was not one her 'better days'.

The two charged into battle against the captain, while Ralof killed the soldier. Hayame managed to burn her enough that Marina could drove a sharp stab through her heart, and the two were definitely a little too giddy about it. They giggled and high-fived, as if it was the first time they killed.

"Come on, let's go," Ralof said, clearly he didn't take for Hayame and Marina's zeal as normal.

"You got the key?" Hayame asked, nodding to the door that remained locked.

"Yeah." Ralof nodded, showing it to Hayame, before unlocking the door.

There was a storeroom, and along with supplies, there was two Imperial soldiers, and the moment the light in the room changed, they looked up at the trio, and did the only thing anyone in Skyrim apparently did, charge at people.

Marina let out a surprised gasp (what was she expecting? Puppies and unicorns?), and Hayame sent out yet another low level flame spell, sending it to one of the soldiers, while Ralof fought the other at a closely match fight.

"Marina, don't just stand there! I gave you a bloody sword for a reason!" Hayame called to the Breton, who stood there, still entranced by something or another. "Oh my god, it's a storeroom! Let's marvel at the miracle of the Divines later, will we?"

Marina still stood there, entranced for a second, before shaking it away and taking a look around her. Gripping her iron sword tighter, she sighed, and Hayame was prepared for some preaching about peace and love.

Instead, Marina let out a charged scream, and killed the soldier Ralof was fighting with one precision-aimed blow to his back, and killed the other one with equal ease.

"What just-" Hayame didn't finish that sentence, because the Breton was holding some secrets, and Hayame wasn't keen on finding any of them out.

"Sorry, I sort of spaced out for a second," Marina said, she looked sorta embarrassed about it, but Hayame couldn't tell for sure.

"Forget it, you did fine."

"You two should see if there's anything useful here," Ralof suggested, and the two girls nodded.

"If you find anything useful, give it to me," Hayame said, slipping the bag off her shoulder and began searching through barrels. "Mostly empty." She noted, more to herself than to anyone in particular. "Potions, this should be useful." Hayame more or less just dumped them into her bag without much thought.

"I've found bread," Marina said between mouthfuls. "Oh yeah, and these potions." Marina handed Hayame a potion of healing and a potion of magicka, Hayame dumped those equally carelessly, along with some rock warbler eggs she've found.

"Are you really going to eat that bread?" Hayame thought it might be poisoned, but kept silent, why is it any of her business if this Breton died?

"Yeah, I'm so hungry," Marina said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"All right." Hayame turned away, and walked to Ralof. "Let's go?" She didn't know how she ended up in control of this group, but she didn't care.

She didn't wait for an answer, and walked on ahead, with the two following behind, Marina still chewing her bread loudly, sounding like she haven't ate in days, but then, almost being killed really has a way of making one lose all their energy.

Hayame stopped by a torturing chamber, safely out of sight of the torturer, and his assistant, and all the Stormcloaks he was torturing.

"Shouldn't we help?" Marina hissed, she'd finally finished her bread, and was now crouching behind Hayame.

"I don't know," Hayame said with a shrug. "Kinda weighing my options here... Do I want to die, or live?"

"You're so selfish." Hayame could almost picture Marina rolling her eyes, but remained stock-still.

"You are," Ralof said in agreement, and stood up. "You take the one to left, and I'll take the right one." Ralof nodded to Marina.

"I get the stronger one?" Marina's voice was pretty whiny.

"Oh my god, you've just killed two Imperial soldiers without even meaning to, of course you can take the stronger one," Hayame said, she'd never been so annoyed at someone. "I'll stay at the back and shoot some more fireballs if it looks like things are going wrong." Hayame said, much more calm and level, to Ralof.

"Ok." Ralof nodded at Marina, and the Breton nodded back. Hayame stayed crouched in her position, watching the two advance towards the two Imperials. Marina managed to backstab hers, but froze the moment the blood splattered over her face.

Hayame shot a slightly stronger fire spell at the Imperial's head, distracting him as Ralof killed him.

"We make a good team," Hayame said with a smirk as she walked to where the two stood. "The three of us."

"Was Jarl Ulfric with you?" Ralof ignored Hayame, favoring instead the Stormcloak soldiers.

"No, I haven't seen him since the dragon showed up," One of the soldiers said.

"Well, nothing we can do." Hayame shrugged. "So, let's go?"

"Wait a second," Ralof replied, as he stopped by a large cage. "It looks like there's something in this cage."

"Yeah?" Hayame squinted. "You're right."

"Ah, it's locked." Ralof turned to Hayame. "See if you can get it open with some picks. We'll need the gold when we get out." Ralof handed Hayame a handful of picks, and the girl ducked down, instantly getting to work.

Hayame has always found lock picking as a second nature, she's done it plenty of times with all kinds of locks back in Solstheim, as well as in Skyrim, any time she stumbled across a bandit or reaver hideout.

"Got it." It only took Hayame a second until she heard a satisfying 'click', and the door swung open. She stepped into the cage, careful not to step on any bones, because the last thing she needed was shards of someone else in her shoes.

The first thing Hayame noticed was a spell tome, it was a shame it was something she already knew, so she tossed it aside, and focused on gathering all the coins instead. There was a dead mage in the cage, but Hayame pretended he wasn't really human, and just took his potions of magicka.

Hayame walked outside the cage, and nodded to Ralof, it was only then that she realized Marina hadn't moved an inch from when she last killed the Imperial.

"Hey, earth to Marina!" Hayame shook the Breton, and she looked at Hayame, and blinked a few times.

"Sorry." Marina shook her head. "I'd never really thought I'd kill so much people."

"Ok, let's count how many people you killed." Hayame said mockingly. "A grand total of four, you're right, that is _so_ much."

"Really?" Marina slapped Hayame's hands off her shoulders. "Why can't you just say something nice for once? Be a decent human being for once? Why must you cackle and scream and point out everyone's flaws?"

"Ok, why did you laugh at the first kill?" Hayame folded her arms, and tried a different angle, because this Marina girl had the capacity to be real strong, if she wasn't such dead weight.

"Because back then, it wasn't real, I didn't have time to think about the realities of it." Marina looked like she was about to cry.

"Look, you want realities? This is the realities. No one is going to be there to protect you, one day, you're going to come face to face with the worst of Skyrim, if you really wanted to cross the border, and find a better life, you're going to meet scumbags who try to kill you, and you know what, that's fine, you just have to kill them first. There's not going to be anyone out there who's going to rescue you, kill for you, not unless you shell out the 500 gold you do not have for some mercenary. It's sucks, but that's how it is, and nothing you say or do can change the realities." Marina gave a slow nod.

"Yeah, I know. I really should get used to it, huh?" The Breton gave a smile, one that looked like it might dissolve to tears any second.

"Good." Hayame smiled. She walked over to a table near the cage and grabbed a knapsack. "Here, take this."

"Right." Marina grabbed it, and slung it over her shoulders.

"The Book of the Dragonborn, any of you read it?" Hayame showed the world a book with black cover, and a insignia for the Imperial Legion.

"No, my parents hated reading," Marina replied, while Ralof and the Stormcloaks shook their heads.

"Ok." Hayame flicked through the book, and shrugged. "I don't get it." Marina peered behind Hayame's shoulders.

"Weird prophecy," she commented, "but can I keep the book?"

"Sure." Marina tossed the book into her knapsack.

Hayame took an iron dagger from the table, and fastened it to her waist, she'd use it just in case someone gets too close.

The two walked to the armory section, where Marina picked up an iron shield, and a couple of books, while Hayame got two lockpicks lying on a table.

"Let's go." Hayame found herself once again leading the group down a hallway lined with cells. Marina was downright terrified, and pressed herself against Hayame's body, hoping for even a little bit of support. "What?"

"There could be ghosts in here..." Marina said, she seemed terrified at the prospect.

"Look, honey, ghosts aren't real, and they never will be." Hayame shrugged Marina off, and turned her attention to one of the cells.

"And what are you doing now?" Marina demanded once Hayame began lockpicking at one of the cells.

"Trying to get the coin purse." Hayame replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You know, if this place is actually haunted by vengeful ghosts, you'd be the first to die." Hayame shrugged, ignoring Marina, and grabbing the coin purse.

"Ok, let's move on." The group continued down the hallway, with Marina clinging a little tighter to Hayame, until they reached a room filled with cages.

Upon, inspection, the room seemed to hold nothing of interest, unless countless skeletons are counted. Marina was terrified of the room, so they quickly left, only to be met with a cave filled with Imperials, and everyone got into action, even Marina. Hayame was quick to dispatch of the unit of archers standing on higher ground, thanks to their idiotic tendency to stand near oil. She then turned to the other soldiers, dodging their blows while charging up a powerful lightning bolt spell, before sending it at a group of soldiers. They all fell at the attack, giving the Stormcloaks a chance to kill them.

The battle didn't last long, and was pretty one sided, but by the end of it, everyone was feeling slightly exhausted. The group walked to a drawbridge, where the Imperial archers were previously occupying, and as Hayame was picking up a Imperial bow, the Stormcloaks distracted er.

"We're going to stay here and wait for Jarl Ulfric," One of the Stormcloaks said and Hayame nodded.

"I see, good luck," Ralof said to the group, who nodded.

"Yeah, good luck," Marina said, with a smile.

"It's been real," Hayame said, "and good luck."

"Come on, let's go," Ralof said to the two girls, who nodded.

"Ok."

The group walked through the drawbridge, and into another area of the natural cave, when a loud roar sounded through the place, and rocks fell, destroying the drawbridge behind them.

"I hope they find another way..." Marina commented, sounding strangely worried.

"Yeah," Ralof said in agreement.

"Well, there's no turning back." Hayame said, more or less indifferent.

As the group walked through the cave, Hayame found a skeleton, and as was normal, she took its coin purse, and potion, before they entered a cavern filled with spider webs.

"You got to be kidding me," Marina said, but before she could whine any more, four frostbite spiders dropped from the ceiling. "Oh, so it's a frostbite family." Marina seemed to have no thought stabbing any of them the way she did with the Imperials, and was quick to kill them all before any had the chance to respond.

"What was that?" Hayame asked, stunned that the Breton could kill anything so fast.

"I hate spiders." Marina dusted their web off her body. "It doesn't help when you lived in an abandoned fort all your life."

"Ok." Hayame had no other words at that, and just exited the cavern.

The group carried on walking through the cave, until they reached a cart.

"Wait." Ralof stopped the two girls.

"What?" Marina asked, her eyes wide and innocent.

"There's a bear." Ralof pointed towards a sleeping silhouette, and Hayame squinted to get a better look, indeed, with its brown fur and large body shape, it did seem like a bear. "I think we should sneak through, but if you two are feeling lucky..." He placed a long bow and several arrows between the two girls.

"Oh, of course." Marina took the bow and arrows. "I've hunted many animals back in the Reach, from rabbits to sabre cats, this shouldn't be a problem."

"And back in my hometown, we hunted to survive," Hayame added, drawing the Imperial bow she stole earlier.

"You ready?" Marina took an iron arrow.

"Yeah." Hayame nodded, and took an iron arrow. "I'll get the neck, you get the head."

The two placed the arrow into their quivers, and fired it, both whizzed through the air, waking the bear too late, as Marina's hit him square in the head, and Hayame's cut off a major blood vessel in his neck.

"We did it!" Marina cheered, a bit too happy at the simple task.

"You two really are something," Ralof said with a smile.

"We are, huh?" Hayame said, before taking yet another coin purse, this time from the cart they stopped by, along with two bottles of alto wine, and a bottle of black-bair mead from a nearby skeleton.

"Come on, the exit's right over there!" Marina said. "I can't wait until I see sunlight."

"We all can't," Hayame said with a smile, and the group walked to the exit.

Outside the cave, the black dragon flied overhead, heading towards divines-knows-where, and Hayame gave a sigh. It looks like she was going to have to stay in Skyrim, at least until she got revenge on that dragon for trying to kill her.

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 **AN: I hope it's fine, I'm sorry if it's bad, I didn't mean to, well please review, and follow. Unless it's bad, then tell me.**

 **I think the way this will go is that first, I'll do the main questline, than Dragonborn, than any factions that you want. (I won't do 'Destroy the Dark Brotherhood', 'cause the Dark Brotherhood is just super Hayame-like, and I'm siding with the Dawnguard, Marina would rather kill herself than become a vampire)**


	4. Chapter 3: Out of All the Towns

**AN: Thanks for the follows and favorite. I appreciate them. This chapter is better, at least, I hope it is, we'll see.**

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Out of All the Towns to Protect

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Marina had never felt happier to be out in the sun, with the sunlight touching her skin, and the sound of natural throughout the air, a hawk let out a cry, and Marina felt truly free, not even the roaring black dragon flying overhead could dampen her spirits. It was eleutheromania in the purest form, and when it was finally achieved, nothing else could matter.

"You two should go to Riverwood," Ralof said, cutting out the perfect illusion that Marina was entranced in. "My sister runs the mill there. We could go together, or split up."

"Well, we should stay together," Marina said, to her, it was a no-brainer, she didn't like the idea of possibly running into a brigade of Imperials, or worse on her own.

"I have no objections either way. I'm clearly not leaving Skyrim anytime soon," Hayame said with a shrug.

"Well, let's go." Marina allowed the eleutheromania to fade back into her subconscious again, and she took the dirt path down the hill, her boots scruffing up boots, as she can't quite be bothered to walk properly. She needed time to think it over, and decide how she really felt about the situation.

"Listen, you should join the Stormcloaks," Ralof fell in line with Marina, while Hayame kept pace a few steps back, "in Windhelm, we could really use someone like you, like both of you." Ralof turned to regard Hayame.

"I'll see," Hayame said, sounding far from convinced. It just sounded like a place-filler to Marina.

"If I can make it," Marina replied, she wasn't sure how long she can survive in the wilderness, and it probably isn't very long. Not without Hayame to slap her out of the trance she so often enter, and Ralof to cover for her during her ever-so-often lapses of judgements.

Soon, the dirt road gave way to solid stone, a proper pathway, leading from major settlement to major settlement. A rotting wood sign at one side pointed the way to Riverwood, and a butterfly rested atop the sign, making everything seem like one of those dreamy paintings, but Marina didn't have time to dwell on it, or say hello to the pretty monarch, as Hayame and Ralof did not seem to have the slightest interest in her pursuits, so Marina followed them down the cobbled road, only then realizing how truly in need of repairs Skyrim's roads were.

The trio walked down the twisting roads down the mountain, or raised ground, whichever one it was, when Ralof stopped, and Marina looked to see what Hayame and Ralof were staring at.

"What?" Marina asked, all she saw was three stone slabs, of sorts, each with a different image engraved, and a hole at the top.

"These are the guardian stones," as if on cue, Ralof began explaining, "three of the thirteen ancient standing stones in Skyrim." So those were the standing stones, Marina has never seen any, but she certainly didn't expect it to be that unimpressive. "Go ahead, see for yourself."

"Eh?" Hayame made a noise that could only mean she still wasn't following.

"They grant you a special ability, allegedly," Marina said, she actually wasn't too sure, but still, she looked through each, and found herself drawn to the warrior stone. It had some kind of exalted power radiating from it that just seemed to resonate with Marina, so she placed her hand on the smooth stonework, finding it surprisingly lacking in faults, and run her hand through the engraving, allowing the cool stone to chill her being, until she drew back, feeling different yet the same, and turned to Ralof.

"Warrior, huh?" Ralof said, with a smirk. "I always knew you shouldn't have been in rags with the rest."

"Well, I have always been a warrior, yeah." Marina laughed, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "I don't know how to do anything else, honestly, maybe a little alchemy here and there, few novice level spells, arcane enchanters on something, but combat really is where I excel."

"Thief or mage, thief or mage, thief or mage or am I going to die before I choose?" Hayame interrupted the two, bumping into Marina as she paced back and forth, trying to figure it out.

"Listen to your heart," Marina said, she knew it sounded dumb and cheesy, but what else can she say?

"Alright," Hayame said, with a small sigh, "I'm following where ever spending a year with Telvanni wizards get me." Hayame ran her finger through the mage stone, and Marina watched, in awe.

"Mage, eh?" Ralof said once Hayame turned around. "To each his own. I'm not going to judge."

"Well, if you did, we'll have a problem," Hayame said, before skipping off down the mountainside, and Marina and Ralof shared a gaze, before following.

As they moved down the mountainside, several wolves leapt out, but before they can attack, Marina slashed them all, clear in the throat, much to the shock of both Hayame and Ralof.

"Just a little skill I've learnt during my time in the Reach," Marina said innocently.

"And I thought my ability to skin horkers fifty different ways were impressive," Hayame commented, "but this is where the real shit's at."

"Nah, skinning a horker fifty ways is still pretty cool." Marina looked away, blushing, she wasn't used to compliments.

"Well yeah, but there is like no practical uses."

The group walked further downhill, picking themselves away from the wolves, and Marina found herself increasingly lost in thought, and wondering just what precisely she was meant to do, because clearly something didn't want her to leave Skyrim.

The group reached a river, and Marina found the sound of rushing water a comfort, it was smooth, without a hitch, just life flowing its natural course. Sometimes Marina wished she could be a river, flowing to her destinations with no obstructions, and never feeling like there was something more in life, and being able to fly, be truly free.

"We're almost at Riverwood now." Ralof's voice cut Marina out of her thoughts, for the second time that day. "I'm glad you two choose to come with me."

"It's nothing, I'd be utterly lost and halfway down a bandit hideout otherwise," Hayame said, with a sheepish laugh, "I need to learn not to go to everything that looks even slightly exciting."

"And I don't think I'd be able to kill anyone without you two," Marina added, because clearly, they were confessing embarrassing truths now.

"True that."

The group continued their walk along the path back in silence. A comfortable type that showed a developing sense of comradeship, and the kind that allowed nature to bloom, as birds whistled, and the leaves rustled in the gentle breeze, the bugs buzzed around a clump of thistle flower, and Marina knew she could never feel more at home than in nature, it was one of the few things she enjoyed about being a Forsworn.

Before Marina could relish the nature anymore, and get completely absorbed, to the point where Hayame and Ralof would have to dig her through layers of earth the get out, a settlement interrupted the landscape.

"Riverwood!" Marina squealed, because she was really looking forward to it, and quickened her pace, leaving Hayame and Ralof to catch up after her, there still was something magical about people.

"Seems pretty quiet here," Hayame commented, as the trio walked through the gate. If that thing could really be called a gate.

"Welcome to Riverwood," Ralof said to the two as they look around, starry-eyed, "there's my sister." Ralof crossed a bridge to the lumber mill, and Marina quickly followed, with Hayame a few steps behind. "Gerdur!" He greeted to his sister.

"Mara's mercy, it's good to see you!" Gerdur was visibly shaken. She had shoulder-length blonde hair, that was neatly slicked back, and clipped on both sides. She looked to be in her thirties, and was quite ordinary, wearing ordinary clothing, and didn't seem to have much distinguishing features. "But is it safe for you to be here?"

"Gerdur..." Ralof seemed to be searching for words.

"We had heard that Ulfric had been captured..." Gerdur trailed off, almost unable to continue.

"Gerdur..." There was a slight pause. "I'm fine. At least now I am."

"As fine as someone who's just been attacked by dragons can be," Hayame commented sarcastically, and Marina elbowed the girl, the black-haired never knew a good time.

"Are you hurt? What happened?" Gerdur seemed panicked by Hayame's outburst of dragons, but composed herself and looked cooly at Hayame. "And who's this?" She nodded at the black-haired. "One of your comrades?" Gerdur frowned, probably because she agreed that Hayame should not be a comrade. "And the Breton?" Gerdur nodded at Marina, and Marina nodded back.

"They're not comrades... Yet," Ralof looked at the two girls, "but friends. I owe them with my life."

"Eh, that might be exaggerating," Marina said, blushing.

"It's not," Ralof said to Marina in assurance, before turning back to Gerdur. "Is there somewhere we can talk? There's no telling when the news from Helgen will reach the Imperials."

"Helgen? Has something happened?" Gerdur asked, once again in beginning alarm, and Hayame gave the blonde a look. "You're right." Gerdur sighed, nodding to Hayame. "The dragons. Follow me." She turned to call at someone. "Hod! Come here a minute. I need your help with something."

"What is it, woman? Sven drunk on the job again?" Hod shouted.

"Hod. Just come here." Gerdur said with a sigh, indicating this was a daily occurrence.

"Ralof!" Only then did Hod realize the trio standing there. "What are you doing here?" Hayame folded her arms expectantly. "Ah... I'll be right down."

"Uncle Ralof!" Just then, a young boy rushed to the group, and Hayame sighed, almost in frustration, while Marina smiled. He had the same blonde hair that ran through so many Nords, and seemed like quite an average child, but Riverwood was just the town with this perfect sense of ordinariness. "Can I see your axe? How many Imperials have you killed? Do you really know Ulfric Stormcloak?" The question came in a rapid-fire, one after the next, with not chance to respond between each.

"Hush, Frodnar. This is no time for you games." Gerdur shushed the child with a single wave, if Marina had to guess, Gerdur was most likely the mother of the boy. "Go and watch the south road. Find us if you see any Imperial soldiers coming."

"Aw, mama, I want to stay and talk with uncle Ralof!" The child seemed visibly disappointed.

"Look at you, almost a grown man!" Ralof said, he was definitely exaggerating for the sake of this child, but Marina rolled with it, and hushed Hayame before she could make a sarcastic remark. "Won't be long before you'll be joining the fight yourself!"

"Ugh, pushing your political views on children," Hayame whispered to Marina, almost in disgust.

"What? He's not," Marina said, looking at Hayame with a harsh glare, "pushing your political views on your child would be what the Forsworn do. Trust me, I'd know. This is just a kid with massive respect for his uncle."

"Whatever." Hayame shrugged.

"I won't let those soldiers sneak up on you!" With that, Frodnar was gone, and Hod entered. Something about Hod just intimidated Marina, and not just a little. He had short, neat blonde hair, without a strand out of place, and a mustache framing his mouth, not to mention his rough tone of voice.

"Now, Ralof, what's going on?" Hod asked. "You three all look pretty well done in."

"Like you won't believe," Hayame commented, with a spur of drama in the mix.

"It wasn't that bad," Marina tried to correct.

"I can't remember the last time I slept." Ralof began, with a groan. "Where to start?" Ralof looked at the two girls for help, and Marina gave an equally lost look. "Well, the news you heard about Ulfric was true. The Imperials ambushed us outside Darkwater Crossing." Ralof looked to the two girls for confirmation, and they nodded. "Like they knew exactly where we'd be. That was..." Ralof paused for a second. "Two days ago now."

"Two days?" Marina hissed to herself, but not quietly enough for all the attention to be turned on her.

"Yeah, I was counting," Hayame replied, "and this morning, we arrived at Helgen."

"I thought we were all over then," Marina continued for Hayame, and Ralof. "They had us all lined up, with a headsman, and I was the second in line to die." Marina added the last part with a twisted knot of a smile.

"The cowards!" Gerdur gasped, as if she couldn't believe it.

"They wouldn't dare give Ulfric a fair trial," Ralof said, "treason, for fighting for your own people!" Hayame was about to interject, but Marina shut the Nord up, and Hayame settled for glaring at Marina. "All of Skyrim would have seen the truth then!" Marina found she needed to keep an iron grip on Hayame, lest she interject with some really unnecessary comments that'll do nothing but spark tension. "But then... Out of nowhere... A dragon attacked."

"You don't mean a real, live..." Gerdur looked at Hayame, who nodded in confirmation.

"I can hardly believe it myself."

"None of us can," Marina offered, "but it was real, and raining down the apocalypse with it."

"Yeah," Ralof nodded in confirmation, "and as strange as it sounds, we'd be dead if not for that dragon. In the confusion, we managed to slip away." There was a moment's silence.

"Are we really the first to make it to Riverwood?" Hayame cut the silence, looking around.

"Nobody has come up the south road today, as far as I know," Gerdur replied.

"Good." Ralof said, in satisfaction. "Maybe we can lay up for a while. I'd hate to put your family in danger, Gerdur, but..." The rest of the sentence was left unsaid, but it hung in the air all the same.

"Nonsense. You and your friends are welcome to stay as long as you need. Let me worry about the Imperials." Gerdur turned to address the two girls. "Any friends of Ralof's is a friend of mine. Here's the keys to the house, and take whatever supplies you need." Gerdur offered the girls a bag filled with things. Marina ended up taking it all, since she didn't know what she was going do next, it was better to stock up, and Hayame didn't seem to have any complaints.

"Thanks, this is awfully nice of you," Marina said with a smile. "But I would hate to intrude."

"Nonsense. You can stay as long as you like." Marina was still unconvinced. "But there is something you two can do for me. For all of us."

"That is?" Hayame asked, and Marina nodded, straightening up her knapsack.

"We need to send word to Jarl Balgruuf to send whatever troops he can," Gerdur explained, "Riverwood is defenseless. If you do that for me, I'll be in your debt."

"Of course we'll do that," Marina answered for both of them.

"Yeah." Hayame sounded unconvinced.

"Thank you again for everything."

"I ought to get back to work before I'm missed, but did anyone else escape? Did Ulfric?" Gerdur asked, almost desperately.

"Don't worry," Ralof reassured, "I'm sure he made it out. It'll take more than a dragon to stop Ulfric Stormcloak!" Gerdur nodded, seeming more relaxed.

"I'll let them into the house and, you know, show them where everything is," Hod said.

"Help them drink up our mead, you mean." Gerdur said, a hand on her hip, clearly unimpressed. She turned back to Ralof. "Good luck brother. I'll see you later."

"Don't worry about me. I know how to lay low," Ralof said, giving his sister a reassuring smile, and everyone left on their own ways, leaving Marina and Hayame alone.

Marina and Hayame just stood there for a second, Marina slid a look at the girl, and appraised her for the first time under the sunlight. She had a nice figure, curves in all the right places, her eyes glittered like a million scattered pieces of crystals, reflecting light, and her black hair was the color of shadows, it was almost strange, seeing a Nord with such a jarring hair color. Despite being beautiful, every time she opened her mouth, a firestorm came with it, and somehow, her demeanor left Skyrim ten times colder, and with little left to be desired.

"So, what now?" Marina asked, after a moment of silence.

"I'm going to sleep for the night, follow if you desire." A playful smirk crossed the Nord's face. "But sleeping so much is no good for you."

"You mean the carriage?" Marina still couldn't believe she's been out for two days. "I didn't even realize."

"Of course, you weren't the one stuck supporting your own body." Hayame turned and walked, following Hod to the house.

"I'm sorry that I was out." Marina didn't understand Hayame.

"Yeah, you were hit real hard by Imperials, whatever." Hayame's tone was completely indifferent.

"Ok, fine, whatever, forget it." Marina huffed, Hayame did not understand how conversations work, and Marina wasn't about to make her see.

That evening, as the sun set over the mountains, the two finally got everything sorted. After Gerdur insisted that the two girls took the double bed, while Gerdur and Hod can take the floor. Marina was very much against the idea, but after pressure from Hayame (that ass just wanted the best for herself), Marina agreed to the plan, and the two ended up in bed. Hayame very much went out like a candle being snuffed, but not sleeping for two days did stuff to people. Marina just lay in bed, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds, and contemplated her future.

So the dragons has returned to Skyrim, something out of legends, a legend that must be very much Nord, 'cause her parents most certainly didn't mention anything about it. So she was captured and almost executed, but a big black dragon saved her, all the while shouting strangely unfamiliar words, that Marina felt like she knew from another life, and very much understood. So now she was in the town of Riverwood, her plan of leaving Skyrim for some foreign city suddenly pushed at least fifty steps back, and was stuck with some uncompromising asshole by the name of Hayame until she saved Riverwood from the threat of dragons.

As she wondered more and more what to do after all this blows over, her head hurt more and more, and the throbbing feeling at the base of her head returned, and Marina had to wonder, what will anyone do against dragons?

* * *

 **AN: Was it any good. I hope it was. I am taking suggestions for the direction it goes, following the main storyline, and Dragonborn DLC. Please review, follow, and/or favorite, unless it's bad. (But you probably zoned this part out because of psychology)**


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